Now that I am retired my monthly budget will change starting June 1st. When I was considering retirement, the biggest financial concern I had was the cost of healthcare. My cost for healthcare now looks like this:

Medical Coverage (Includes a Prescription Plan) through the college: My Monthly Cost: $422.00. The college pays $381.81
(The total monthly cost for Medical with Prescription plan is $803.81, of this I pay $422.00 monthly, the college pays the rest)

Dental Coverage: Monthly Cost: $25.75 No College subsidy for Dental

Vision Coverage: Monthly Cost: $3.15 No College Subsidy for Vision

Total cost to me monthly is: $450.90

I searched on the healthcare exchange to see if I could do better there, and I found that a comparable plan would cost me almost 3 times as much. The benefits on my current plan are excellent.

Once I reach age 65 and switch to Medicare my price will reduce significantly, and the college will pay toward a surround plan with prescription coverage.

The college also offers me other retiree perks, such as free use of the gym and pool, library, free tuition for classes and use of computers and printers. I will definitely start using the gym when the college reopens, and it is safe to do so! For now, I am walking every day, weather permitting.

Before I retired, I was pretty easily living on around $1000 a month, so my new goal will be to stay under $1500 a month. This will start in June.

In preparation for retirement I saved up a sizable amount of money to pay for yearly property taxes, car insurance and condo insurance. Since I pay these in full, once per year I don’t count them in my monthly spending budget. I estimate I have about twelve years' worth of these expenses saved. After that I can easily pay them from other investment sources. I also have $30k saved up in a different account as an emergency fund. This is for car repairs, replacing appliances etc. I don’t keep a separate car maintenance fund. It took me a very long time to save up this money, with lots of scrimping, frugal living, and at various points along the way I worked 2 jobs, but now it was all worth it.

So, I am feeling pretty good about my plan for expenses in retirement. If I spend under the goal of $1500 per month, that amount will go into savings to be used for vacations or other fun activities. I am often asked about travel plans now that I am retired, and people are usually surprised that I really have no big desire to travel. When I was younger my husband and I (now ex-husband, we were married for 20 years) traveled extensively, all over the world. We wanted to explore while we were young and able to walk all day and didn’t mind roughing it a little. I am so glad we did! The experiences we had were priceless. Now, I am more than content to take shorter day or weekend trips. I dislike flying now and prefer to drive when I do take a trip. When I was at my brothers on Memorial Day, we started discussions about a summer 2021 vacation to the beach! Something to look forward to.

May 6th was the one-year anniversary of my mom’s passing. I miss her terribly. On that day it was cold, rainy and windy and a planned trip to visit the cemetery was postponed until the next day. My brother and I drove separately, wore masks, and stayed the recommended 6 feet apart. We placed fresh flowers, said some silent prayers and then sat on a nearby bench (still distancing) to talk. My brother and I are very close, and I have missed seeing him in person, even though we talk and text frequently. It was great to see him, although not being able to give him a parting hug was sad.

After that I went to the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit and veggies and a few other things. They were still out of the usual things, TP, hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes. I was surprised that they did have a pretty decent amount of meat, and I scored a couple of packs of my favorite, organic chicken strips that they have been out of for a while. Everyone wore masks and kept a safe distance from each other.

In keeping with my zero food waste quest, I used up a small piece of chicken, a small amount of left over mixed veggies, and a last handful of cooked pasta by throwing it all into a pan with some seasonings and giving it a quick stir fry. It was surprisingly good!

I was curious as to when the last time was that I bought gas for the car. It was March 18th and I still have almost a full tank! I do go out and start her up every few days just so the battery doesn’t die, but I’m mostly only driving to the store and back. I wonder how long I can go until I need a refill. At this rate it could be a while yet.

I had ordered some sketching supplies that came in, and I have really been enjoying rediscovering this hobby. I am pretty rusty, but it’s slowly coming back and I’m happy to have the time to do this again. When I was working full time, I just didn’t seem to be able to access my creative side and I’m glad it’s still there!

Under these circumstances (not really being able to safely go out and do much yet) I think the thing I enjoy about retirement the most so far are my peaceful mornings. I’m still waking up early, but I don’t have to rush around to get ready. I can enjoy my morning coffee, get caught up on the news, check my emails, and slowly ease into the rest of my day. I am already calmer and happier!

Today was my last day! I am now officially retired! I have worked at the college for 19 years, and I will miss my co-workers very much. They threw me a virtual party, which was very thoughtful and fun! I received a $250 gift certificate, lots of calls, texts, emails and e-cards. When it is safe to gather together again, I have been promised a celebratory lunch.

I never imagined that my last day of work would be from home during a pandemic. It just drives home that you never really know what life has in store, and to value each day!

* Condo is paid in full
* Car is paid in full (2017 Camry)
* No other debt

*Shopping category includes a box of 50 disposable masks. My state is requiring us to wear one when we go into grocery stores, pharmacies, or to pick up food. I gave some of these to my brother. I also bought my sister a birthday gift and had it shipped to her. I bought myself some sketching supplies. I used to sketch a lot when I was younger and decided now was the time to rediscover this. I’m happy to have the time to resume this hobby, I enjoy it very much!

*Now that I am working from home I had zero gas expense for April. I last filled my tank up in March I think, and still have 3 quarters of a tank left. Zero dining out expense because everything is closed.

It has been about 3 weeks since I went to the grocery store and I was totally out of fresh fruits and veggies, bread, coffee creamer, eggs, chicken etc. I still have enough other food to stretch another week or two but decided to go today for the staples. The store was not at all crowded, I was able to find everything I needed (but noticed they were very low on the usual TP, Paper towels, wipes, hand sanitizer). I didn’t need any of these items, so I didn’t pick any up. Most shoppers were wearing face masks and were keeping the proper distance from each other. I won’t need to go again until next month. When I run out of fresh produce, I still have frozen veggies, and frozen fruit for smoothies. I think I actually like only going grocery shopping once a month and might just keep this up even after this is all over.

Still working from home and after this week I only have 2 weeks to go until retirement. I never in a million years would have envisioned that my last workday would be spent working from home due to a pandemic! One day, when it’ safe to go out to a restaurant again, my friends at work have promised a proper send off! When the college eventually reopens, I will need to go in and clean out my office and turn in my keys. I can then say some goodbyes to some coworkers.

I received a notification from my auto insurer that customers will be receiving a 15% discount on 2 months of installments. Since I pay mine in full for the year, I will receive a refund for that amount. I paid my homeowners insurance for the year today. I haven’t been doing any driving and still have almost a full tank of gas, so I won’t need to fill up at all in April. I’m hoping my utilities don’t go up too much since I’ve been home all day.

Not much else going on, just keeping busy at home. I hope everyone is well and staying safe.

* Condo is paid in full
* Car is paid in full (2017 Camry)
* No other debt

*The grocery category was way high due to stocking up. April will be much lower!

*Dining out occurred very early in the month.

*Shopping included purchasing a new air circulator (Vornado floor fan). My old one that I know I had for probably ten years finally died. I got a larger size this time and using this in the summer really cools well, so I don’t need the central AC as much.

*I had my taxes done by my CPA friend and received a $3800 refund. This is why my savings was so high this month.

*I’m glad I had my hair done because this won’t be happening again for a while!

The Governor of Maryland just extended school closures (k-12) through April 26th. I’m pretty impressed with his handling of this pandemic in my state so far. He is proactive, calm, helpful, level-headed, and doesn’t get sucked into political drama and the blame game. It’s interesting that we have a Republican Governor in a historically democratic state. My college is closed this week for spring break, and as far as I know I will continue to work from home starting Monday.

On Monday I went to the grocery store. It was raining, and I went very early right after stores opened hoping for no crowds. It was a good strategy, with only a handful of shoppers and only one person in line in front of me at check out. I was happy to see a good selection of fresh fruit and veggies which I was completely out of. While there, I stocked up on chicken, ground meat, milk and eggs (there was a 2 per item limit on each of these) and other items. I’m good for at least a month, and I could easily stretch it out much farther if I need to. My goal is to stay home and out of the stores. I only need to go out to walk, get my mail, and take out the trash.

Each day this week I have tackled a particular chore. Monday was grocery shopping and I cleaned out and organized my fridge, freezer and pantry. Yesterday, I stripped the bed, turned the mattress, washed the mattress pad, blankets, sheets and pillow cases. Today I am deep cleaning the master bathroom. Tomorrow I will deep clean the guest bathroom, and Friday I plan to start on the living room. I like to keep busy as I do much better with a structured routine.

I miss getting together with my friends and family, but we call and text frequently. Everyone is trying to do their part by staying home as much as possible.
Please take good care of yourselves, and don’t forget to check on elderly and/or disabled family, friends, and neighbors if you are able.

The Governor of Maryland was one of the first in the country to shut down public schools across the state. Many people thought he was overreacting at the time. Not so much now. Many college systems soon followed, with classes cancelled or entirely moved to on-line delivery. My employer (a very large community college) is allowing most of us to work from home through the end of March, which is what I will be doing starting Tuesday. I have to go in tomorrow to collect some materials that I will need and pick up a college laptop. They will reevaluate things in 2 weeks. Public libraries, churches and some government agencies are all closed.

I went out before work last week on Thursday morning to do my grocery shopping. It was a good time to go. Few people were there that early. I stocked up on what I needed for 2 weeks. The only thing I needed that they were out of were eggs. I will stop in later this week to see if they have any.

Because I already have a stockpile of toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, toiletries etc. that I have been building up over the past year (to prepare for retirement) I didn’t need to purchase any of those items. My friends who used to poke fun at me for couponing and having a stockpile (in a friendly way) are now wishing they had done a bit of that preparation too! I will of course share with my friends and family if they need anything.

I’ve been seeing lots of posts on social media from people in my area with pictures of long lines to get into the local Costco, Walmart’s and some grocery stores. Shelves have been wiped cleaned of bread, milk, cleaning products, TP, meats, and fresh fruit and veggies. Some stores have shortened their hours of operation somewhat so they can clean and restock.

I made a big pot of chicken soup yesterday, and today I’ll be making chicken salad. I still have some chili in the freezer. I’m sure I can easily stretch my food out for a good month if that were necessary, and although I prefer fresh fruit and veggies, I picked up some frozen ones to tide me over if need be. So, I feel like I am in good shape to stay home and ride this thing out. I am “older” (almost 60) and had a pretty bad case of pneumonia last year that was really hard for me to heal from so I don’t want to take any unnecessary chances.
I hope everyone stays safe and healthy!

I woke up this morning in a great mood! I slept well, felt rested and was even singing in the shower getting ready for work. I stopped and treated myself to an iced coffee on the way in and had some early morning laughs with coworkers. Then I decided that today was the day I was going to give my boss my official notice that I am retiring, and May 1st will be my last day. I have been holding off because she has been out on medical leave, and wanted to wait until she came back, but she keeps delaying her return, although she has e-mailed us that she is feeling better and "will be returning soon". She encouraged us to e-mail or call her with anything important. So, I did just that and now it is all official! I had already met with HR, and filled out and turned in all of my paperwork. All that was left was to notify my boss.

So today was the day! I think I took that great mood as a sign. I sang in the car all the way home!

There hasn’t been much going on so I haven’t blogged for while…. but I did decide to bump up my retirement date to May 1st! I had initially targeted June 1st, but since I meet all the eligibility requirements toward the end of April I just didn’t want to stay any longer the absolutely necessary. The burn out is real! I have had some discussions with a few friends across the college in different departments than mine and I am excited about some potential part time opportunities down the road.

My finances are pretty much on auto pilot, I continue to save and keep my expenses low, although I think January is seeming a bit more spendy then I initially thought, nothing crazy though.

A new Lidl grocery store just opened a few weeks ago just a mile or so away. It is very close to the Aldi. I haven’t been yet because I want to wait until it gets a bit less crowded from the grand opening shoppers. I’ll be interested to compare products and prices. I’ve been increasingly buying more organic and gluten free foods so I’m looking for ways to save since they seem more expensive.

My sister has expressed the possibility of coming for a visit soon after I retire. I miss her very much and this would be so much fun to spend some time together without having to cram everything in in a short visit due to work.

The weather on the east coast continues to be wonky. One week it’s close to 70 degrees and the next week it’s below freezing. We haven’t had any real snow to speak of, and I’m hoping it stays that way!
That’s about it, not much exciting happening, just typical life! Hope everyone has a good week.